#platinum

Kentarous couldn’t help but admire that sheer moxy and bravery. Even if he could see how anxious Silvan was, how scared, and how terrified they truly were, the fact was that they were on a boat to Veilstone City, right towards the very location of the very last gem, was all the proof he needed of their strength.

When the boat arrived, Silvan waited, as always, for everyone to get off first before they did, with Kentarous following behind. Once they were out of the city, they entered Route 214 and changed back into their true form from their human one.

Silvan barely had a moment to look around and notice that the cold air of winter was slowly starting to ease as the first signs of spring were showing themselves. A sakura tree on the route had its very first blossom, and Kentarous took a moment to appreciate its fragile, fleeting beauty as they continued to walk towards the Spring Path. He began to point it out to Silvan, who, to his surprise, turned to look at the tiny bloom.

Silvan looked at the little flower on the tree. For a moment, they simply looked at it, enjoying its fleeting beauty, and then they turned back to the path in silence. But Kentarous heard a very soft ‘thank you’ from them as they finally got to the hidden entrance.

Silvan stared at the cove, part of them wanting to run back home to Unova. To get as far away from this place as possible. But, the other part of them kept their feet rooted to the spot. They couldn’t run from this, they couldn’t hide from it. 

All they could do… was move forward.

Silvan took their first step into the grotto, and through it, onto the Spring Path.

It was as though someone had put earmuffs on their ears. Other than the rustle of the wind through the trees, silence enveloped the small path like something out of another world. Was this the beginning of the distortion of time and space? Silvan could only guess as they slowly walked along the path, Kentarous by their side.

The path was short, and eventually, Silvan began to see a rise in the short distance, obscured by fog. With a gulp, they stepped through yet another grotto pathway.

Before them was a cliff, covered in harsh rocks to climb up. Kentarous couldn’t fly, as it was daytime, so Silvan simply continued through the undergrowth of the path. There were, strangely, no Pokemon here either. Maybe they had all since vacated? Kentarous was surprised by that too, and remarked on it.

“No one’s here…”

Silvan didn’t respond. They simply looked at the rocky ledge and began to climb. Kentarous followed them.

Silvan stepped out onto the ledge of the lake below. The area was adorned by newly budded flowers, some of which had only just bloomed. Spring was on the way. There was a ramp on their side of the lake, and a sheer rock climb on the other side. 

They could either swim across to the entrance down below, or they could climb it.

Silvan turned to Kentarous, their voice emotionless, “swim or climb?”

Ken startled a little, and worry crept over his face at the tone. Silvan didn’t move, waiting for his reply.

“L-lets climb down. Best not to soak ourselves to the bone, hehe…”

Their laugh echoed in a lonely away in the mist. Silvan merely turned towards the path around the lake and walked. Kentarous sadly followed.

The climb down was uneventful, and Silvan landed by the entrance. Here, they could feel something was off - something beyond their understanding was taking place. It was a feeling that they couldn’t shake.

Every nerve in their body was telling them to turn around. To go back home. Maybe this was why it was called Turnback Cave. A warning to all who came upon it.

Turn back now.

Go home.

‘Being here will only bring death to you.’

Silvan blinked. A whisper through their ears. They closed their mouth and looked down.

As if they didn’t already know that. 

One foot after the other, they stepped inside the cave.

There were three doorways, and a podium in the middle of the room. Ancient text was inscribed on it. Silvan walked down towards it, and then up to look at the text. They couldn’t read it.

They looked at Kentarous silently, a please in their eyes. They couldn’t speak. Ken merely nodded and translated the words.

“Heed this; past three pillars, you must offer up your desire to the God of the Underworld before 30 is surpassed.”

“Before 30 is surpassed…” Kentarous repeated, and looked at Silvan. They didn’t respond. Ken looked back at the pillar, and thought to himself. He wasn’t as clever as Silvan was, so he could only guess as to what it meant.

“Which doorway should we take?” They all looked the same to him.

Silvan peered at each one, and silently, they simply walked to the right. Kentarous followed them.

The next room only gave them an entrance to the left. Silvan took it.

The next room following only gave them an entrance to the right. Silvan took it.

The third room had a pillar, and another message. Kentarous ran over to read it.

“Four have passed. Express your desire.” He read out loud. He turned to Silvan, then.

Silvan looked blankly at the writing, and with a deep sigh, they spoke quietly into the room.

“Please give me the Ghost Gem.”

A sharp sound pinged across the room. Suddenly, Silvan knew where to go, as if pulled by an invisible thread, and that was straight ahead. 

“This way,” they said softly, but it was easily heard in the silence of the room. Kentarous followed through the next doorway.

The fifth room had an elaborate path of rocks blocking the way, but not really. Silvan took a left.

The next room had much of the same thing. Silvan went straight ahead.

The second Pillar appeared in the seventh room. An object was glittering at the base of it, along with text.

Silvan’s legs moved on their own as they numbly approached the text, along with the Gem. It was a deep, dark cold purple, but it glittered like the rest in the low light. Kentarous glanced at it, and then at the text.

For the first time, he looked confused.

“It’s scrambled…”

Silvan didn’t respond. They picked up the gem in their paws, their whole body shaking. This was the last element. The last chance to evolve. It was the very last time… 

They took out their crown, and placed the Ghost Gem within it. Slowly, they placed it on their head, their whole body shaking worse than ever.

Silvan closed their eyes, waiting for the gem to resonate. Waiting for something, anything to happen.

But… just as it had been with every single other Gem… 

Nothing happened.

Kentarous waited, holding his front paws together over his chest, worry all over his face, expecting the worst, but nothing happened. He watched with some small surprise as Silvan opened their eyes, confusion written all over their face.

“It didn’t…”

“What— but…” Kentarous took the crown from Silvan and looked at it. It was heavy, and full of power, that much he could sense, and the Gem was real, “there must be some mistake! Surely–”

“There isn’t.”

Kentarous looked upset. Silvan’s voice was so defeated. They were sitting there, head bowed, tears trickling out of their eyes and down their face onto the ground. 

“That… That was the last element,” they said, the sound of sniffling filling the empty room. “The very last…”

Kentarous held the crown close, knowing what was coming next, and Silvan’s voice filled the room like a bomb as they snarled at the roof, “WHY CAN'T I JUST EVOLVE?!”

The screech echoed around the room. Kentarous had winced at the volume, but he said nothing as Silvan cried in frustration and anguish. Every single Gem, they had every single one.

And nothing resonated whatsoever.

Were they truly doomed to remain as they were?

“Please…” 

Ken blinked as Silvan looked at the pillar, their face wet with tears, their eyes pleading. 

“What do I need to do… what am I missing… please…” they begged, “please…”

“Silvan…” Kentarous said sadly, but as he did, the pillar began to emit a soft blue light. The scrambled writing on it began to organise itself, almost by magic. Silvan watched this, not understanding what was happening, but eventually the glowing stopped, leaving only one word;

“Forward.” Kentarous read, his voice full of wonder. 

He looked at Silvan, who looked at him with tears still streaked through their fur, confused, and then back at the pillar. Ahead of them was a doorway, and upon looking around the room, they both realised it was the only doorway. The others had vanished.

Kentarous put the crown and the Gem into Silvan’s bag, and he tugged on their leg, “come on.”

“But… I…”

“Come on,” he urged, pulling on Silvan’s leg again. “I don’t know what this is, but I think you’re going to get your answer.”

Silvan looked at Kentarous, then at the pillar, and then at the doorway. Slowly, they steeled themselves, and with conviction, Silvan began to move towards the only doorway left after Kentaros.

The next room was empty, full of scattered rocks, with only one more entrance way. They both took it. Beyond that was one final room with writing on a podium, much like the entrance. Silvan and Kentarous approached it - it was a much bigger platform than the entrance had been. Kentarous got the feeling that this was likely where Giratina would show up if he was called.

But for them… it was different. In this strange place connected to the Underworld, the shaymin ran over to the pillar to read the writing. And when he did, he let out a loud gasp, paws going to his mouth as he did.

Silvan came over slower, and looked at the unreadable language, and then back at Kentarous. “What… does it say…?”

“Play the flute.”

Silvan blinked, and looked at the text, then back at Kentarous, who looked like he had realised something enormous. 

“What does that—”

“When I was a kid,” Kentarous interrupted, and Silvan stopped talking at the tone. They had never heard Kentarous speak so seriously, “I went to a place near my home. It’s very, very far north, but it’s connected to both Johto and Sinnoh. It’s a rune called the ‘Sinjoh Ruins’.”

“And in it… I found something.”

Ken reached into his bag, and he pulled out a very strange purple and red object. He held it delicately, like it was an incredibly precious item.

“This.”

Silvan looked at the flute. It was a very, very weird looking instrument, more like an ocarina than a flute. But, how could this place have known Kentarous had such an item?

“So… you think…” Silvan looked at the pillar again, “you need to play that thing?”

“Yes.”

“And then…?”

“I don’t know,” Kentarous shook his head. “I played it at the ruins, and nothing happened. But here…”

Hesidantly, he took a stance. He planted his feet firmly, and raised the flute to his lips. He blew through it, and a noise that Silvan could only describe as the sound they imagined glitter might make if it had one echoed briefly around the room.

Then, Kentarous blew six notes, two longer ones, two shorter ones, one short one, and then one long one that made the fur on the back of Silvan’s neck and all along their back stand on end. The sound from that flute was unlike anything they had ever heard in their life, like something ethereal and otherworldly. 

Kentarous looked hopefully at the text, but a light shone from the podium itself. A strange magical circle had appeared within at the sound of the flute, and as quickly as it had come, the light suddenly went out.

But in the very centre of the podium was a Gem, the same size and the same shape as the Elemental Gems they had been hunting for so long.

The pair slowly stepped onto the podium, and at long last… Silvan felt it.

The strongest ever pull towards anything they had ever felt in their entire life.